Thursday 22 August 2019

Halide app - Shot on an IPhone

I recently updated my ageing IPhone 5s for an IPhone SE. Most folk would dismiss that as an upgrade, but I like the small form factor and the upgrade only cost me £150.

One thing I was keen to try out was taking RAW photos on my phone. Would they be usable? Could there ever be a time when I could leave my heavy SLR at home and still get a half decent shot?


After a little bit of googling I discovered the Halide app "It gives you a tactile, intuitive, yet powerful way to take beautiful photos" Well for a penny shy of 6 quid I thought I would give it a go. First thing I did was switch on RAW capture and flick through the online quick guide. It's not rocket science, it's easy to use. 


I was not disappointed, slightly mush jpg's were much improved if you saved them as RAW files and took a few extra minutes to run them through Lightroom. You can see for yourself a comparison at 100% between a standard jpg & a RAW file. The only adjustments I made were to colour correct the RAW file to match the original jpg.



jpg file - note the slightly mushy look, telegraph lines are absent.

RAW file - slightly more noise, but more detail. Both Images taken at native ISO 25

When I was up in the Lakes recently I manged to take this shot up on Lingmoor Fell. I was really pleased with the IPhone output. I'm sure if I wanted to print a 15"x10" it would hold up well.



Lingmoor Fell
Lingmoor Fell. Shot on an IPhone.
Processed in Lightroom & Silver Efex Pro

I have to confess I was still carrying my SLR and took a few comparison shots. Maybe there will come a time when I just head out with my phone!

The only improvement, if the guys from Halide are listening is to have the option to change aspect ratios, I really like the square format.

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